[Thank you for sticking with me! If you have any suggestions for elements you'd like included let me know and I'll see what I can do.]
7.
"Sorry Louie, I have tentative plans" Provenza mimicked his friend's answer to his invitation sarcastically. "That's a big word for you Flynn."
The irritation he felt at being excluded from whatever was going on in his long-time friend's life could not be hidden. They'd been partners since Jesus played fullback for Jerusalem. Nothing had ever been off-limits. He knew there was something he was missing, but for the life of him, he could not put his finger on what it was.
Provenza packed up for the day, which was easy because he'd been doing nothing but think for the previous hour. He went in search of Rusty, who was pretending to do his homework, so that they could get settled before the game was due to start.
"Flynn's bailed on us kid. It's just you and me. Let's go!"
Not quite sure that she's up for Andrea's visit, but not wanting to disappoint her old friend, Sharon packed up for the night and headed home, stopping for a bottle of wine on the way. It wasn't a regular thing, but she and Andrea tried to get together at least every few weeks just to decompress, and to have an adult conversation that didn't involve dead bodies, crime scenes or the law.
She usually looked forward to them, and was a little cranky with herself for not being so enthused in this instance.
"Damn Flynn and his grin" she said out loud, knowing nobody was there to hear her.
"Get yourself together Sharon, you're behaving like a dizzy schoolgirl."
She knew she hadn't appeared that way to him at lunch time, because she'd worked very hard to make sure of it. She was still trying to figure out why she'd responded the way she did, but at the same time didn't want to over think it.
Andrea arrived in her usual whirlwind fashion, and they'd settled with a glass of wine each at the dining table to talk. How Andrea always managed to figure out when there was something on her mind, she would never understand. She sat there listening to her friend trying to hedge around her prying questions without being too obvious, and concluded that she must have some kind of antennae that alerted her. It was bad enough that she clearly knew something was off, but she'd also caught her deep in thought while staring at her heel mark on the wall from the previous night. She had a feeling her face had told Andrea the thoughts she was having were less than pure.
"Oh well" she thought "you can wonder, Andrea, because this is one topic we are NOT going to discuss."
Adult small talk dispensed with, along with several glasses of red wine, Andrea headed out completely unsatisfied with the answers she'd been given, declaring she would just have to investigate the entire situation herself.
Sharon cleared their glasses away and rinsed them, trying to convince herself she was going to watch TV for a while before going to bed. She text Rusty to make sure he was ok, or so she told herself, and wondered if she was really just texting to make sure he was still spending the night.
Text Exchange:
[Sharon] Lieutenant Flynn, what's your current location?
[Andy] Currently seated. Manning phones Captain. Anticipating contact.
[Sharon] No lights or sirens Lieutenant. What's your E.T.A?
[Andy] May I speed Captain?
[Sharon] Negative Lieutenant.
[Andy] 12 minutes allowing for traffic.
[Sharon] Don't just sit there Lieutenant.
